A Brief Look at Crime 08/27 – 09/09

A Marshfield man who owns Quincy’s South Side Tavern has been ordered to forfeit nearly $425,000 in proceeds he earned from running an illegal sports betting ring out of the bar. He is one of five who were indicted in connection with the gambling scheme. Authorities say Manning, Patrick Dolbeare of Dorchester and Sean Conroy of Braintree ran a gambling operation out of the South Side Tavern’s Quincy location, and that James Manning of Pembroke and Nicholas Manning of Dorchester participated in it. The state’s attorney general’s office said Manning and others “took illegal bets from hundreds of gamblers through sports betting websites run by an offshore casino. The defendants had dozens of agents working for them as part of the illegal operation,” a statement said.

The last vestiges of the mob are still alive in South Brooklyn, but the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York is attempting to bring down five alleged members and associates of the Colombo and Gambino crime families, who were indicted in Brooklyn federal court on Wednesday. The 32-count indictment charged two inducted members and two associates of the Colombo organized crime family with racketeering, including acts of extortion, extortionate collection, money laundering and illegal gambling. A fifth defendant, an inducted member of the Gambino organized crime family, was charged with extortionate collection and a related conspiracy. “The mob is certainly diminished, but it is not dead,” said NYPD Police Commissioner James O’Neill.

A Lebanon man accused of threatening to kill people at the Oregon Lottery headquarters says the email threat “was a terrible mistake on my part.” In a message provided by Oregon State Police on Thursday, Jason Ouellette apologized to anyone at the lottery agency frightened by the shooting threat and says he plans to get help for his gambling addiction. “I was angry at myself after losing a substantial amount of money playing a lottery machine the previous day,” said Ouellette, 42. “I have struggled with gambling for many years.” It is not immediately clear how much money Ouellette lost. Ouellette was arrested at his home on Tuesday hours after sending the email to the lottery office in Salem, state police said. He faces an accusation of menacing, police said. He was booked and later released from the Marion County jail due to overcrowding.

*Pennsylvania* state authorities recently destroyed a *multimillion-dollar video gambling organization* and arrested its alleged owner. The illegal operation conducted business in Allegheny, Fayette, Washington, and Westmoreland counties. In the scheme, patrons at bars, restaurants, and clubs could win credits from machines placed in the establishments. The winners would then redeem the credits for cash from the bar owners. “Today we’ve ended Tony Zenner’s video gambling operation,” said state attorney general Josh Shapiro. “This defendant raked in millions of dollars in illegal proceeds, draining money from Pennsylvanians — and from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania — over the last decade.” The arrest was the final step in a three-year investigation. In April 2018, police confiscated over 100 video poker machines and*$83,000 in cash* from Zenner’s warehouse and car. They also froze $63,000 spread across several bank account. In all, they allege that Zenner made $7 million over the course of the past decade.

A former Border Patrol agent in Nogales said his gambling habit forced him into a drug-smuggling conspiracy. Alex Peña, 37, was sentenced Monday to 20 months in federal prison for his role in the conspiracy. While in uniform, Peña stole a Border Patrol truck in the middle of the night in August 2016 and drove it to a remote area south of Patagonia, where he admitted he intended to help smuggle a load of marijuana, according to a plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court in Tucson. Peña had a “significant gambling problem” which, combined with a 25 percent reduction in pay following a funding cut to the agency, “caused a financial struggle” and he “could not see an exit,” defense lawyer Christopher Scileppi wrote in a sentencing memorandum.

Two Southern Pines convenience stores will have $765,850 taken by the U.S. government after accusations of profiting from illegal gambling machines, according to a North Carolina district court press release Friday. In a complaint filed Dec. 23, 2016, the U.S. stated that an undercover investigation had found “several illegal electronic gaming machines and games of chance” operated by the Patels at both Jay’s Food Mart 1 and 2. The machines, which displayed an electronic version of a slot machine, were owned by “a third-party” with whom the Patels split the proceeds. Customers who won money on the machines were paid in-store. “A segment of the gaming industry continues to foist illegal games of chance on the people of North Carolina, particularly on those least able to afford this addictive and destructive habit — this in spite of clear directives from both the North Carolina General Assembly and Supreme Court of North Carolina barring such games,” said Robert J. Higdon Jr., U.S. attorney for the eastern district of North Carolina.

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